Saturday, October 4, 2008

"wow... that's music!"

As my anticipation for Guitar Hero World Tour, what will be my single biggest gaming purchase this year, grows I can't help but also grow more excited about Wii Music. Wii Music is the game that most of the gaming industry doesn't understand or know how to talk about. Like the other phenomenons that fly under the same series (Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit) Wii Music is designed in a way that is very different from the popular examples in related genres. Wii Music is designed as a true music game.

I've been playing music for a very long time now; piano for over 13 years and violin for over 11 years. Though I've participated in contests, orchestras, and solo performances with both of these instruments and written several compositions, I come to understand music as something that a musician can't help but make. It's something different from the theory, correctly played notes, and one's experience with an instrument. My experience with the cello, harmonica, guitar, bass, and drums aren't nearly as extensive as with my primary 2 instruments. But in my experience, I've found that I can make music with anything that makes noise or can produce note tones.

It's interesting when you think about how the source of my expression for playing video games, painting, drawing, sculpting, writing, and playing music comes from the same play. In each art form each in their different ways, every move/strategy/brush stroke/word/note is made in attempt to communicate something whether individually or as part of a bigger phrase. My piano teachers over the years never taught me to play music, but they always commented on how I had "it." Random audience members from concerts would always go out of their way to specifically compliment my playing. Playing notes is something entirely different from playing music. This is something that has come naturally to me.

In one of my English class back in High School, the teacher had a small toyish ukulele. Everyday, I would go to class early and practice on this plastic like instrument that was always out of tune. After a few attempts, I was able to play the Super Mario Brothers main theme with some cool ornamentation too. After I nailed Mario, I worked out a unique composition in the style of classic guitar music. Though the strings were in a different tuning every day, I was able to get consistent results. The more work I put into this "toy" the more musical range I discovered and the more my playing sounded like authentic music. Because of experiences like this, I never underestimate the ability for strange even toy instruments to make music. Music is something I will always strive to produce because it's in my and it must be expressed. For this reason, the 50 or so instruments that come packed into Wii Music excite me just as much or more so than Guitar Hero World Tour. How else would I be able to play 50 musical instruments to create music even if they're "toys?"

Wii Music is a game made by the same company and the same genius designer that has made the world's greatest video games. The same mind that created Mario and Zelda is now looking at looking at creating a game entirely around the function of creating music. Using the modern advances in technology and game design, Miyamoto is attempting with Wii Music to make a game about making music with simulated instruments as opposed to hitting buttons to a fixed rhythm on a plastic instrument/video game controller. Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Donkey Konga, and all the other music-rhythm games may be nice games, but as a musician I know that there really isn't any musicality in the gameplay. At some point, not being able to play my own notes to my own rhythms makes me realize I'm stuck in a game that's more linear than even the most basic 2D platformers. In other words, music rhythm games generally have one way to play and one way only which severely limits the possibility for musical expression.

As a violin teacher, I'm working with a student who has been playing the violin for 3 years having started in middle school. She told me she wants to play with more confidence and energy but is unsure how to do so. The only way to play with more energy, I explained, is to put more energy into your playing. Every time she tries, she reverts to the ways she's comfortable playing; more reserved and somewhat vapid. Even this student musician playing a real instrument holds back her own musicality because she's afraid to mimic me or the other violinists. She has created too many psychological barriers against herself.

Most musical instruments are physical machines that produce sound entirely through mechanical means. Imitating and even exaggerating the physical motions of real musicians goes a long way in developing the techniques needed to play like a professional. This is why Wii Music's motion controls are genius.

The psychological barriers many develop when playing on a real instrument wouldn't exist in Wii Music because it's perceived as a video game; a toy meant to be played. The psychological barrier that stems from the perception that a musical instrument is a very expensive object that must be taken very seriously would never developer around such a game for the Wii. Furthermore, because the player is playing "air instruments" there's a natural tendency to exaggerate one's motions. In a strange way, the inherent design of Wii Music can bring musicians and non-musicians alike closer to physically playing more like professional musicians.

Some people are upset with how Wii Music makes it impossible to play bad notes or lose like in a traditional video game. Somehow, these people have drawn the conclusion that real music is legitimized only because of the possibility that the performer could have played wrong notes or failed in some way. Even with the structure Wii Music puts players in, it is still quite possible to play some horrible sounding music. Remember E3 08? The performers on stage played a Mario tune that sounded terrible. That alone should convince anyone that there's enough room in Wii Music to fail or succeed in varying degrees. Because musical expression is at the center of Wii Music's design, the success of a performance is subjective. I doubt there will be a percentage score given to players at the end of each song.

The Bad

The Good

The Variations. Skip to 1:00

IwataI think Wii Music has enormous potential. Because instead of accurately performing actions in time with a score, gameplay is about enjoying limitless possibilities all of which are correct.

Just listen to theme and variation between these recordings of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

When I first listened to these three videos, the first thing I said was, "wow... that's music!"

Wii Music is a game that will fill a unique space in the gaming industry. It's for people who want to know what it's like to play music, to play music in a group, and even do a little composing without the expensive price tag of buying a musical instrument/lessons or working through the steep learning curve of music theory. Wii Music is also for musicians who want to play around with instruments they can't get their hands on or can't afford. With around 50 musical instruments in Wii Music, there's bound to be something you've never seen/touched/played that you would like to. In other words, Wii Music is for everyone. Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Elite Beat Agents, Donkey Konga, DDR, PaRappa The Rapper, and Guitaroo Man players shouldn't feel threatened or challenged in any way. Wii Music seems to be in a genre of it's own.

6 comments:

The bad Mario theme was definitely bad. What caused the poor playing? Was it poor tempo, or were they actually playing wrong notes?

The question I've always had so far is "What can I do to put myself into the music?" I saw the variations, but I'm still a little lost. Specifically, it looked like the differences were changing instruments, tempo, and note length. What can you do with the same set of instruments?

Do you think they have different mappings for notes, meaning a button for high notes, another for medium, and another for low, or something like that? They don't have any hints on screen about what you're supposed to hit next, so it seems like that would be difficult.

I really want to like this. I'm definitely their target market. But for playing a complicated instrument like a piano, guitar, or flute, is it really just tapping a button in rhythm, or is there more?

I like the idea that there is no score. I can judge myself and know whether I did a good job. I also know its more about playing a song the way you want than playing correctly. But I'd like to have at least a little control over which note comes out, even if its just 3 or 4 choices. Do you see this in the game?

These are very good questions. All I know so far is that it varies with every instrument. The drum simulator with the balance board and two Wiimotes has the range of a real drum set.

For something like the piano you can play individual notes, two hands at the same time, and do rolls with ease. As far at getting specific notes to play when you want to, all I know is that you can control whether the next note you play is up or down the scale.

I'm sure we'll know more when the game comes out. But I'm sure, as long as you pretend to play each instrument accurately enough you'll get the hang of things.

Updated Critical-Glossary

All +All -

Critical-Glossary

+-
Alphabetical

+-
abstract mechanic

Some gameplay mechanics are completely artificial, meaning they do not make logical sense based on the form of the game. When such mechanics are privileged within a game's design, we tend to label these games as being "arcade" like. I describe these gameplay mechanics as being abstract.

It is a design innovation that applies to games that are played in real time. By taking the progression of real time and breaking it down in specific contextual ways, a new level of game design can be reached. This is the essence of asynchronous time, or async.

In music, Counterpoint is the writing of musical lines that sound different on their own, but harmonize when played together. How the melody of a song interacts with the other lines is the focus of Counterpoint.

Counterpoint, in gaming, is a word for the way gameplay develops past optimization by layering interactive elements into a single gameplay experience. When each layer influcences, interacts, and enhances the functions/gameplay of each other layer the gameplay emerges into a medium of expression that reflects the individuality of a player and the dynamics that reflect the complexity of the world we live in.

A measure of how the changes in the method of input are paralleled with the action in the game according to the form of the mechanic. If you quickly press the green button on your controller, does the game quickly press the button on the screen? If you hold the button on your controller, is the button on the screen held down as well?

An measure of how the game world responds to the action. According to the form of the game world and the mechanic, does the world react realistically? What is the extent of the properties of the mechanic? Are the reactions to the mechanic special cases or can the resulting actions continue to effect the game world?

Like Marxist criticism, the most successful Feminist critique of a game involves analyzing how the range of player functions that affect female characters directly or indirectly reveal the operations of patriarchy. When the player is encouraged or forced to play in a way that depicts men as strong, rational, protective and women as weak, emotional, submissive, and nurturing, then the game can be said to support and reinforce patriarchal genders roles and ideologies. Patriarchal values work to oppress women, and all feminist theory and criticism works to promote women‘s equality. A Feminist analysis can become more complex when finding examples of actions toward women if a game doesn’t feature any women or the game allows for limited interaction with women. Writing essays about such games often leads to finding evidence by absence. In other words, a Feminist critic’s central piece of evidence may be what can’t be done to women instead of what can.

+-
flow

How a game accelerates or creates forward momentum. This factor of gameplay isn't necessarily about speed. More specifically, it looks at how a game's interactions feed back into the player's options/experience like a snowball rolling down hill.

+-
folded level design

Level design that resuses a space with the second use containing an extra layer to the gameplay that builds on the knowledge and experiences established on the first layer.

Form fits function is a powerful game design principle that has powered many of Nintendo's greatest games. Using familiar visuals, games can use their form to communicate to the player. If there is a ball resting on a tee and the player avatar has a golf club in their hands, they better be able to swing the club and hit the ball. Otherwise, why put such things in front of the player in the first place? Keeping the form true to the functions and limits of a game creates the cleanest most easily enjoyable experiences.

+-
function creates form

When a game's mechanics inspire, shape, and define the creation of ancillary parts of a game. ie. story, setting, premise, characters, music, audio

Interplay is the back and forth encouragement of player mechanics between any two elements in a game. Put simply, interplay is where actions and elements in a game aren't means to an end, but fluid opportunities that invite the player to play around with the changing situation.

A measure of the degree to which input method matches the form of the game. If there's a green button on the screen, and a green button on your game controller, the form of the game is liked to the input of pressing the green button on the controller.

Like Psychoanalytic criticism, Marxist criticism can seemingly critique a game by looking solely at a its fiction. However, both of these critical modes, in relation to videogames, achieve a deeper, more profound level of analysis when the elements of interactivity between the game and player are taken into consideration. Many Marxist critics of literature believe that film, literature, art, music, and other forms of entertainment such as videogames are the primary bearers of cultural ideologies. While we’re being entertaining by these medias, our defenses are lowered making us all the more susceptible to ideological programming. A Marxist critic of videogames looks for how a game supports or condems capitalist, imperialist, or classist values. Perhaps the best and most obvious place to look toward in games is the role and function of money. Some games represent money with actual U.S. dollars or some other form of real world currency. Others use fictional currency from bell, to gil, to star bits, or even points. What the player can purchase, how these items or services function, and how the money circulates within the game world all become important areas of analysis.

"New Classical criticism focuses on identifying a game's primary function/action that sums up all of the player's actions, functions, and abilities into a single expression. This expression can be thought of as the interpretation of the game or what the gamer is actually doing when he/she plays. Sometimes the primary function can be encapsulated in a single word. For example, the primary function of the Super Mario platforming series is "jump". After the primary function is identified, the New Classical critic then looks at a game's formal elements to analyze how they promote the primary function. The formal elements include Sound, Music, Art style, Story, Graphics, level design, enemies, etc. Because the New Classical critic privileges interactivity over passivity (especially when focused into a limited number of rules and actions), such a critic is only concerned with how these elements shape the gameplay experience, and assumes that any formal element in a game is only meaningful when it supports the primary function and exists in a lower state of priority to that function. In other words, elements like story can't be more stressed and more important to a game than the gameplay. Even if a game is designed according to the conventions and assumptions of Western game design, it can still be critiqued in the Classical mode."

A type of multi-fold level design where the creases and layers are so flexible and/or dynamic that considering the possibilities within a single level are interconnected and complex. Considering the shape created from a multi-fold level is similar to observing an origami figure.

For those who aren’t careful, a Psychoanalytic critique of a game appears to only be concerned with the fiction of a game and the relationship of the characters. Unless the game is Psychonauts, most games seem to have little to nothing to do with the human psyche. Neglecting how the game fiction and the gameplay (or game rules) come together to create the Psychological work in a game is a common pitfall. Another easy pitfall is to get wrapped up in Psychoanalyzing the developers of the game, or what may be infinitely more embarrassing, accidentally analyzing one’s own psychological state while trying to pass it off as an analysis of the game. Though it is true that the fiction of a game is an important part of any Psychoanalytic analysis, the gameplay is where the most profound sources of material because the interactivity of the game can influence and transform the player in more powerfully subtle ways than a passive medium.

The set of mechanics that do not make up the set of primary mechanics. These mechanics usually aid and help shape the primary mechanic.

+-
sections (sub-sections)

All games can be broken down into sub-sections or sections. Whether a game is broken down by rooms, loading sections, cut scenes, stages, levels, rounds, or turns, if a game has a mechanic that is repeated, then it can be divided into sections.

Structures are probably the most recognizable feature of videogames. Because structures create the foundation for the game rules and player to learn these rules, analyzing structure develops a clearer insight into how a game works at its core. We're all familiar with the structures of genre. Any gamer can instantly recognize a first person shooter like Halo from a puzzle game like Tetris. Each gaming genre has a certain look to it that is the result of the gameplay structures. Like with any genre, the degree to which the conventions are followed or deviated from varies greatly from game to game. Recognizing a game's structure is an acute way of talking about how a game works in or outside of its genre.

+-
suspension

In counterpoint, when a game element or game idea is offset form the established pattern of game ideas to create scenarios where the element/idea can carry over and influence other game ideas.

...about Critical-Gaming

We have come to a point where how we talk about video games is insufficient in expressing how we feel and think about them. With each year comes increasingly complex games, yet we are still, for the most part, writing and talking about games on a shallow consumer level.

It is time to start thinking and writing critically about games. However, before we can do this, we must approach gaming from a critical mode or mindset. To do this, we must first understand of how the different parts of a game work together (game design). Unfortunately, many of the who have experience in this area spend their time making video games. Beyond that, the body of knowledge that does exist is scattered at best. For this reason, it is hard for a thorough understanding of game design and critique to become widespread.

I have started this blog in efforts to inform both gamers and non-gamers of the complexities of gaming and how it compares to any other art form (music, literature, movies). Using literary critical theory and music theory as a starting point, I have developed a comprehensive set of critical modes for video game critique. By writing in these critical modes, and by critiquing other video game reviews, I hope to raise our understanding and expectations of video game journalism, critique, and even video games themselves.

We already have a loose idea of what it means to be a core gamer. A casual gamer. And a hardcore gamer. I hope with the right mindset, we can become critical-gamers, who don't shun our fellow gamers for thinking deeply about games but embrace the change we wish to see in the world.